BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Piper Sandler

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target cut by Piper Sandler from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BKU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.91.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.0%

BankUnited stock opened at $42.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $38.01 and a 1-year high of $52.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.20.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03. The firm had revenue of $280.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 15.01% and a return on equity of 9.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.90 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 42,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,408.80. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKU. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth $518,492,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,658,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,390,000 after purchasing an additional 26,292 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,177,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 819,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,011,000 after purchasing an additional 67,981 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 0.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 360,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,272,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company provides banking and financial services to businesses, institutions and individual customers, with an emphasis on commercial banking.

BankUnited offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and multifamily financing, residential lending, mortgage warehouse facilities, consumer loans and deposit products. Its services also include treasury management, cash management, online and mobile banking, wealth management and other financial solutions designed to support business and personal banking needs.

The bank primarily serves customers in Florida and the New York metropolitan area, while its commercial banking activities extend to selected markets in other parts of the United States.